Abdi Nor Iftin first fell in love with America from afar. As a child, he learned English by listening to American pop and watching action films starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. When U.S. marines landed in Mogadishu to take on the warlords, Abdi cheered the arrival of these Americans, who seemed as heroic as those of the movies. Sporting American clothes and dance moves, he became known around Mogadishu as Abdi American, but when the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab rose to power in 2006, it became dangerous to celebrate Western culture. Desperate to make a living, Abdi used his language skills to post secret dispatches, which found an audience of worldwide listeners. Eventually, though, Abdi was forced to flee to Kenya. In an amazing stroke of luck, Abdi won entrance to the U.S. in the annual visa lottery, though his route to America did not come easily. Parts of his story were first heard on the BBC World Service and This American Life. Now a proud resident of Maine, on the path to citizenship, Abdi Nor Iftin's dramatic, deeply stirring memoir is truly a story for our time: a vivid reminder of why America still beckons to those looking to make a better life.

HE WASN'T THE "RIDE OFF INTO THE SUNSET" TYPE… T. J. "Cowboy" Whittaker wasn't looking to be anyone's hero, but when vulnerable Priscilla Richards turned her tear-filled blue eyes on him and asked, "Can you help me uncover the secrets in my past?"…well, how could the sexy P.I. say no? His job was simple: escort the sheltered city girl to Texas to meet the mom she'd never known, then hightail it out of there as fast as his boots could carry him. Temptation wasn't on the agenda—especially with a prim New Yorker who most definitely was not his type. But Prissy made him hotter than Dallas in July…and made him want things he'd given up on long ago….

With a storm of hot lead he brought peace to the blood-drenched, lawless Ironhead Station, deep in the wilds of Indian Territory. Now Morgan Clyde, who fought criminals as a New York City policeman and Confederates as a Union soldier, has another war on his hands. WANTED DEAD AND BURIED The bloody barbarism of the Civil War scarred Morgan’s soul as well as his body. He sent so many soldiers to Hell and almost joined them when he was struck by a bullet from the sniper known as the Arkansas Traveler. The only man to ever survive the notorious Rebel’s sharpshooting skills, Morgan finds himself back in the assassin’s sights. But the ex-Confederate isn’t the only one gunning for Morgan. The outlaw Kingman brothers have followed him from Ironhead Station out onto the Salt Plains of the Arkansas River, seeking vengeance for their brother who Morgan killed in a gunfight. Then there’s the Pinkerton Detective agents, answerable to no law but their own, on a mission to execute him. And as his enemies close in, Morgan strikes with the speed of a rattlesnake, the ferocity of a grizzly, and the predatory instinct of a stalking wolf . . . Praise for Spur Award winner Brett Cogburn “Fans of frontier arcana will revel in Cogburn’s readable prose and lively characters.” —Publishers Weekly on Rooster

Sid Steiner is a fourth-generation legend rodeo star in one of the fastest growing sports in the country; his autobiography covers his family history as well as his life from popular son of a star to becoming the 2002 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Champion.

Corb Lambert is ready to marry Laurel Sheridan. She's pregnant with his baby--and Corb is the type of guy who will do the right thing. He just wishes that he could remember the passion they shared before a terrible accident wiped his memory clean. Laurel can't decide whether to go or stay. Corb is willing to take on his responsibility, but Laurel can't bear the thought that he doesn't remember her, especially since she fell for him, hard. She's got a life in New York--but her baby deserves a father. Could he love her all over again? Or is he just staying in Montana to give her child a name? Laurel has to know now, because one person can't do all the loving....

“Do you think you could teach Rock Hudson to talk like you do?” The question came from famed Hollywood director George Stevens, and an affirmative answer propelled Bob Hinkle into a fifty-year career in Hollywood as a speech coach, actor, producer, director, and friend to the stars. Along the way, Hinkle helped Rock Hudson, Dennis Hopper, Carroll Baker, and Mercedes McCambridge talk like Texans for the 1956 epic film Giant. He also helped create the character Jett Rink with James Dean, who became a best friend, and he consoled Elizabeth Taylor personally when Dean was killed in a tragic car accident before the film was released. A few years later, Paul Newman asked Hinkle to do for him what he’d done for James Dean. The result was Newman’s powerful portrayal of a Texas no-good in the Academy Award–winning film Hud (1963). Hinkle could—and did—stop by the LBJ Ranch to exchange pleasantries with the president of the United States. He did likewise with Elvis Presley at Graceland. Good friends with Robert Wagner, Hinkle even taught Wagner’s wife Natalie Wood how to throw a rope. He appeared in numerous television series, including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Dragnet, and Walker, Texas Ranger. On a handshake, he worked as country music legend Marty Robbins’s manager, and he helped Evel Knievel rise to fame. From his birth in Brownfield, Texas, to a family so poor “they could only afford a tumbleweed as a pet,” Hinkle went on to gain acclaim in Hollywood. Through it all, he remained the salty, down-to-earth former rodeo cowboy from West Texas who could talk his way into—or out of—most any situation. More than forty photographs, including rare behind-the-scenes glimpses of the stars Hinkle met and befriended along the way, complement this rousing, never-dull memoir.

A daring ninja learns that the greatest thrills and the best adventures are ones that are shared with others.